CSCS shareholders approve N3.5b total dividend for 2018

Shareholders of the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, have approved a cumulative dividend of N3.5 billion culminating in 70 kobo per share due to every investor of the company for the 2018 financial year.

The shareholders, who spoke during the 2018 yearly general meeting of the firm, in Lagos, on Tuesday, said the 70 kobo dividend was very impressive when compared with dividend paid by some financial institutions.

Specifically, a shareholder, Ayodele Ogundeji, commended the CSCS management for the efficient running of the company’s affairs, and for the 70k dividend declared for the period under review.

Another shareholder, William Adebayo, expressed satisfaction with the company especially for abiding by strict corporate governance principles and sustaining its profitability, and urged the adoption of strategies to maintain the dividend policy to ensure sustainability.

He added that the tenure of the Chief Executive Officer, Haruna Jalo-Waziri, has been a successful and productive one
CSCS Chairman, Oscar Onyema, said despite the socio-economic developments and political agitation/instability, the company’s business performed well as seen in its financial results.

Onyema attributed the performance to several factors including the primary market segment, which witnessed the listing of two new companies – Notore Chemicals Industries, and Skyway Aviation handing Company (SAHCO).

He added that relatively strong secondary market activity on the Exchange, sound corporate governance model, skied workforce, and technology contributed to the performance.

He said: “our marketing efforts have been re-energised to establish us as leaders in the document management services space with clientele across several business sectors and in government.”

He added that CSCS would continue to work to be the most respected central security depository across the globe.

On the outlook, the chairman said strong corporate governance standards, and strategy execution would remain top on the mind for the board and management in the coming years.

“We continuously strive to create value for our shareholders by developing products and services in addition to our core business. We will continue to stretch ourselves to ensure that our strategic objectives are met, so as to achieve long term value creation for our shareholders and stakeholders,” he said.

Also, Jalo-Waziri said the company remains committed to enhanced return and service delivery.

“Overall our capability to process trades has now significantly increased from hundreds of thousands of trades to millions of trades daily. This development ensures that we stay well positioned to deliver clearing and settlement services across current and future product offerings to the stock exchanges we render services to.

“We have continued to strengthen our interaction and influence within and outside of the Nigerian capital market by cultivating and maintaining partnerships that promote similar interests and values.”

The company during the review period posted a profit before tax of N6.09 billion against N5.66 billion achieved in the comparative period of 2017 while gross earnings stood at N9.08 billion in contrast with N8.69 billion in 2017, an increase of four per cent.”